A year ago, Alex Eala left the court at the Birmingham Open after losing in the first round. On Sunday, she walked away as a champion.
Eala struggled during the clay season and arrived in Birmingham without much momentum.
She reached the round of 16 in Linz, but lost to Jelena Ostapenko 7-5, 6-4. In Stuttgart, she lost in the first round to Leila Fernandes 6-1, 6-4.
Madrid lost 6-2, 6-1 to Elise Mertens in the second round, while Roma showed her best form of the season on clay before losing 6-4, 6-3 to world No. 2 Elena Rybakina in the third round.
In Strasbourg, she suffered another early exit, losing 6-3, 5-7, 3-6 to qualifier Oleksandra Olnikova. At Roland Garros, he drew with close friend Iva Jovic and lost in the first round of the French Open 6-4, 6-2.
But Glass provided a timely reset.
Ila opened with a commanding 6-0, 6-2 victory over Priscilla Hong in Birmingham, followed by a close 6-2, 7-5 win against Alina Charaeva, who trailed 2-5 in the second set.
In the quarterfinals, she defeated Manachaya Sawankeo 6-3, 6-2, controlling most of the match through early battles.In the semifinals, she had a tough match against Rebekah Masarova, and despite falling behind at 5-2 in the third set due to rain, she won 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
By the final, she had already been tested on all fronts, but her match against Nikola Bartunkova saw further challenges amid repeated postponements due to rain.
The Czech won the first set 7-5 after a late break, then broke first in the second set to take a 1-0 lead.
However, Ira reacted immediately.
Once she broke back, she gradually began to control the baseline rally and take control with greater depth and sharper angles.
The second set was a strong 6-3, but the third set was a close battle.
Ila fought off an early break point to go up 1-2, but then broke to take a 5-3 lead. Bartunkova fought back to 5-5, but Ila broke again in the 11th game and then served out to win 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.
This was Aira’s first win against Czech opponents in 14 games. This isn’t a statistic she talks about publicly, but it’s important in context. Czech players have long been a tough group for her to play against, and for a time it looked like Bartunkova would continue that trend. Instead, Eala closed the loop.
Ira’s name is now on Birmingham’s list of champions alongside Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova, but she didn’t attach much importance to the company.
“Of course, it’s a really beautiful sound,” Ira said. “All the names you mentioned are great players in the world of tennis and it is a great honor to be able to lift this trophy today.
“However, lifting this trophy does not mean I will join the ranks of the greats yet, so I am motivated to keep working and am grateful for the role this trophy has played in my journey.
The win marks Ila’s second WTA 125 title following last year’s breakthrough in Guadalajara, and could earn her a career-high spot inside the top 35. But timing may be more important.
After a frustrating clay swing, Birmingham offered something different – proof that her game is still growing.
Eala will now compete in the WTA 500 HSBC Championship at Queen’s Club in London before heading to Wimbledon.
